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My dog's scabs and fur loss are back after vet care. What now?

Updated On September 23rd, 2025

Pet's info: Dog | American Pit Bull Terrier | Female | spayed | 8 years and 8 months old | 70 lbs

My dog has these spots of scabs all over her, and her fur is falling off. Her vet treated her for allergies & gave her medicine that including an antibiotic & something for the inflammation & a medicated shampoo. It worked for a week & now the spots are back & its worse. Any advice?

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4 Answers

Most Helpful Answer

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Answered By Jenna Beyer, DVM, MBA, cVMA

Veterinarian, Certified Veterinary Acupuncturist

Published on October 17th, 2018

These types of lesions can be caused by many things, including allergies, bleeding or clotting disorders, autoimmune disease, cancer, deep bacterial or fungal infection. mites, among others. If their treatment plan did not lead to a resolution of the lesions, then the next steps may include blood work, cytology, or a biopsy so that treatment can be better tailored to the cause for the lesions.

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Other Answers

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on March 2nd, 2017

    This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Cuddles with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. trifexis or advantage), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on September 29th, 2017

    This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat Sophie with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. advantage), then get her to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start her on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting her on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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    Answered By David Elbeze, DVM, MRCVS

    Veterinarian

    Published on May 29th, 2017

    This is probably due to a severe allergy, although it could also be fleas or mites. First of all, in order to rule out skin parasites, you will need to treat peanut with a high quality flea treatment (e.g. bravecto or advantage), then get him to the vet to perform a skin scrape - this might reveal an infection or a mite infestation. If all of those came back negative, the next step is to treat the allergy symptomatically and try discovering the cause of the allergy. Some medications can be given by the vet in order to repair the skin lesions (steroids and antibiotics). simultaneously you should start him on a prescription hypoallergenic diet for at least 2 months. Hopefully you will see some results after all this, if not you and your vet should consider putting him on a long term allergy treatment (Atopica or Apoquel).

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    1Pet Parents found this answer helpful

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